President's Message                                 Ruth Fain

One of the things that I enjoy about Temple membership is feeling part of a community. As I enjoyed the dinner and desserts brought by the assembled guests at the January Wine and Dine evening, I couldn’t help but feel like many of the pieces of our community have come together because so many congregants are actively involved in the Temple today.

Think about what events took place in just a few weekends during the month of January. Our young families come out in force for First Friday services to attend the service and to dine communally, as they did that first weekend of January. If you haven’t been to the Tot or Family service on a First Friday, you need to know that it has become a favorite event in synagogue life. It is filled with spirit and the joyousness that the little ones bring. The following weekend was a special Shabbat service honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., and it was a remarkable and extraordinary tribute through history and song, brought to us by our Ruach singers.

The historic background we were given before each musical set took many hours of research and the beautiful a cappella songs took long hours of practice. In addition, Ivan Wolfson played his guitar to accompany Cantorial Soloist, Deborah Johnson. You may have read that Ivan spent a weekend at a song leading conference to better his skills so that he can continue to bring new music to our services. The large crowd
of members and non-members who came to the service was treated to an oneg afterwards that was provided by yet another group of volunteers.

The Friday night after that was a similar situation. The Wine and Dine evening was ably coordinated by June Poses and Leslie Katz, and the guests all brought food to share. Sunday brought the song leaders together for rehearsal amidst the crowd of over 130 who came to brunch at the Temple to support the service trip that some of our students are taking with students from the White Church. The brunch was
created by parents of the kids taking the service trip, and the kids themselves were there working alongside the adults. It was another very successful group effort, with many working toward a common goal of raising funds to help offset the expenses of the students taking the trip.

What I marvel at is not just the variety, quantity and quality of the programs happening these days at the Temple, though all certainly noteworthy, but that there is so much congregational involvement. As we come together in these varied ways, we support one another, learn more about each other, and continue to build what has become a vibrant congregation. The sense of community that I have been
looking for is here and continues to grow.

Temple Habonim
165 New Meadow Road
Barrington, RI 02806
401-245-6536
Rabbi: rabbiklein@templehabonim.org
Marjorie: marjorie@templehabonim.org